Mon 2nd Aug: An almost perfect balance

Lilian on the table

Although not brand new to HKDR, little Lilian is new at our Ap Lei Chau Homing Centre after being sent over from Tai Po.  She's what I would call a petite size, small and slim and very pretty.  Every move is stressful for any dog and arriving at the Tai Po Homing Centre is already quite traumatic initially, then finding yourself uprooted once again after just a couple of weeks must be really unsettling.  Lilian dealt with this by jumping up on a table, presumably planning an escape, and this first few days, or even weeks in some cases, is when most dogs run away from their new homes.  We've had a few such cases if you remember, when new dogs have shot out of the door and disappeared, and we certainly don't want a repeat of that situation.  Lilian is a sweet dog but currently quite scared, so we would certainly send her to any home with strict instructions about double leashing and being careful about opening the front door without first making sure the dog was secure.  At any given time there are always posts on social media about lost dogs, and it's a horrible and very stressful event for everyone going through the experience. 

Once Lilian is adopted, which I think won't take too long, we can have another small-medium dog shipped over to Ap Lei Chau from Tai Po to take her place.  If you're interested in adopting, I'm sure you know what to do by now, complete the adoption questionnaire at www.hongkongdogrescue.com/adopt/adoption-questionnaire/

 

42 out, but 41 in

As promised, I felt it worth mentioning the number of dogs and puppies we took in during July after sharing the forty two adoptions.  The number coming in was in fact forty one, so although that's an almost perfect balance in one way it does also mean we have to keep up the adoption rate to avoid being completely overwhelmed.  However, as much as we want to see dogs going to new homes that doesn't mean we'll relax the adoption criteria because that doesn't help the dogs in the long-term.

Of the new arrivals, just twelve were from AFCD and twenty nine were surrendered to us directly.  This is a huge reversal from the early years of HKDR when almost all dogs and puppies coming to HKDR were from AFCD,  and I think it says a lot about the change in perception about dogs and how they should be treated.  To surrender a dog to AFCD is now the last thing most dog owners consider, so almost all dogs and puppies coming from the government Animal Management Centres are those that have been picked up as strays or are there for other reasons.  It's an interesting and encouraging statistic, but the problem with illegal breeders is as bad as ever.  I think it's fair to say that the attempt to control and license such establishments with the introduction of the Amendments to Animal Trader Licensing Laws (Cap139b) some years ago has been a complete and abject failure.  The breeders and pets shops are still doing a roaring trade with no concerns at all about being prosecuted, and that's something we have to continue to fight.